2011 was dominated by the horrendous news that there were three simultaneous meltdowns at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, in March, sparked by a gigantic 9.0 earthquake and a monstrous tsunami. It was recently revealed that the accident was much more severe than previously thought.
The uranium core of Unit 1 completely liquefied (the first time this has ever happened) and melted right through the vessel and into the containment, almost setting off a China Syndrome-type disaster (where the core melts down, theoretically all the way to the other side of the planet).
In December, the utility, TEPCO, announced that it finally stabilized the reactor after 9 months of agonizing work, and temperatures inside were below boiling.
Now comes the hard part -- cleaning up the tragedy, which may take 30 to 50 years or more. It took 14 years to clean up Three Mile island. It's been 25 years since the Chernobyl accident, and that reactor is still not stable (the core continues to produce intense heat as it melts into the ground).
Meanwhile, Germany and Switzerland both announced that they are permanently phasing out all nuclear power plants, in light of Fukushima. This is putting pressure on President Obama, who is still pro-nuclear.

2.Wacky Weather

2011 was haunted by the specter of "100-year storms," i.e. 100-year flooding, 100-year heat spells, 100-year droughts, 100-year forest fires, etc.. Property damage was in the billions and the human agony was often unbearable.
But why is the weather turning so ugly, when you have simultaneous droughts in Texas and massive flooding next door?
The short answer is that scientists don't know for sure. Predicting the weather is a tricky business, even for the best supercomputer. But there are at least two theories.
One is that there are natural fluctuations in the weather, so that random chance can create these disastrous events. For example, much of the weather over the U.S. is determined by cold, Arctic air coming in from Canada, hitting the moist, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf was hotter than usual this year (meaning that there was more moisture in the air) and the jet stream acted in erratic ways, sometimes bringing down huge storms and at other times causing stagnation and a heat spell.
The other theory says that perhaps the increase in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the erratic jet stream are caused, in part, by global warming. "Global warming" does not mean uniform warming of the earth; instead, it should be called "global swings," with droughts in one part of the country and flooding in the next. So far, there is no smoking gun, but many scientists say that these strange 100-year events are consistent with global warming. If so, then expect more of them.

3.Higgs Boson Found?

Physicists at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, announced that they are finally closing in on the elusive Higgs particle. The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, a colossal $10 billion machine 17 miles in circumference, can hurl protons at 14 trillion electron volts to re-create conditions near the Big Bang itself, where particles of the Standard Model of particles can be found.
The Higgs is the last, missing piece of the Standard Model. But this is not the end of physics. The Standard Model only describes 4 percent of the matter-energy of the universe (the rest being dark energy and dark matter), so we are far from a "theory of everything." The next step is to produce dark matter at the LHC and perhaps verify exotic new theories, such as string theory.

4.Giant Black Holes Found

Black holes, once considered science fiction, now appear all around the universe. Astronomers recently identified the biggest black holes of all time, one weighing in at over 20 billion suns in mass.
Our own Milky Way galaxy has a black hole with about 3 million times the mass of the sun. Such monstrous black holes, found in deep space, exist because they swallowed up billions of stars. (There is no danger that we will be eaten up by one these giant black holes, since our sun orbits around the central black hole in our galaxy at a safe distance.)

5.Twins of the Earth Found

The Holy Grail of planetary astronomy is to find a twin of the Earth in outer space. Astronomers this month announced a new candidate.
So far over 500 extra-solar planets have been identified orbiting distant stars, but only a few seem to be in the so-called habitable zones surrounding those stars, and the one announced this month, called Kepler-22b for now, is the first to be confirmed.
If a planet is too close to its mother star, its oceans will boil. If it's too far, the oceans will freeze. But if a planet is "just right" in the Goldilocks zone, then it might have liquid oceans.
Liquid water is the universal solvent, out of which the first proteins and DNA emerged, so there is hope that perhaps Kepler-22b also has liquid water oceans (and perhaps even microbial life).
Once earth-like planets are identified, this will help to narrow down SETI, the search for radio signals from intelligent life. But don't think that we will be able to visit these planets any time soon. If we take a voyage on a Saturn rocket, it would take several hundred thousand years to reach any of these planets.

6.Alien DNA on Earth?

All DNA on earth is basically the same, except that the genes are arranged differently for different plants and animals. So it was shock, late last year, when scientists announced that Mono Lake in California had DNA which had never been seen before, with arsenic as one of its building blocks.
Immediately, other scientists jumped into the fray, arguing that perhaps the DNA was contaminated. But it still means that, in outer space, we have to be open to the idea of alien DNA, which may look quite different from our DNA.
If it holds up, then every biology textbook on earth has to be rewritten. Time will tell if this shocking result holds up.

7.Last Hurrah for Space Shuttle

President Obama has altered the mission of NASA. He canceled the return to the moon proposed by President Bush, canceled the space shuttle, canceled the Constellation project to replace the shuttle, and put off any manned mission to Mars.
NASA's manned space program was a victim of the Great Recession. So it was with teary eyes that people watched the last shuttle launch in July.
U.S. astronauts will be hitchhiking rides to the International Space Station with the the Russians for the next several years. People are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that private enterprise will eventually pick up the slack.

8.Mars Mission

The "Godzilla" of space probes blasted off in November, headed for Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory, a rover nicknamed Curiosity, is five times bigger than any of the previous Mars rovers.Its mission is to find evidence that liquid water once existed on Mars and then to find evidence of microbial life that might have spawned on Mars billions of years ago.
So far, scientists have found no conclusive evidence of life on Mars. But since Mars once had great oceans (one of them about the size of the U.S.) there is still hope that some form of life may have germinated on Mars.

9.Tape Recording a Memory

In the movies "The Matrix" and "Total Recall," memories can be inserted directly into the brain. So instantly you can become a karate master or a helicopter pilot. This is all science fiction, but science is catching up.
Scientists at USC and Wake Forest University made a major step in this direction. Memories in rats and humans are first processed in the hippocampus of the brain. These scientists recorded signals in the hippocampus as the rats learned a task. Then they gave the rats chemicals which made the rats forget the task. Finally, the re-injected the taped messages back into the hippocampus, and the rats remembered the original task.
So one day, if all goes well, we too might be able to record certain memories and then have them injected into the brain, so we learn a task instantly. Of course, years of work are needed before we can become instant karate masters. However, in principle, it may be possible.

10.Dark Energy

The Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011 went to three astronomers who have discovered that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, rather than slowing down, and that a mysterious "dark energy" may be responsible.
This is embarrassing, since only a few decades ago, it was widely believed that the universe was mainly made of atoms. Now, we realize that 73 percent of the matter/energy comes from dark energy (the invisible energy of the vacuum), 23 percent from dark matter (invisible matter that surrounds the Milky Way Galaxy), 4 percent from stars, and just a paltry .03 percent from higher elements which comprise our body and the planets. We are just beginning to understand what our universe is really made of, a question asked by the ancient Greeks 2,000 years ago.

Prototype devices show Intel chips running devices that could challenge the iPhone and iPad early next year.

Intel inside: This “reference design” running Google’s Android operating system is meant to help persuade manufacturers to build their handsets around Intel’s new mobile chips. Credit: Intel: The era of the personal computer dawned thanks in no small part to the chip maker Intel. But the company has been only a spectator to the rise of smart phones and tablets in recent years. These mobile devices use chips based on designs licensed by the U.K. company ARM, which deliver the power efficiency the powerful, compact gadgets require.

Intel is about to fight back.
Last week, Technology Review tried out prototype smart phones and tablets equipped with Intel's latest mobile chip, dubbed Medfield, and running the Android mobile operating system created by Google. "We expect products based on these to be announced in the first half of 2012," says Stephen Smith, vice president of Intel's architecture group.
Known as "reference designs," the devices are sent out to inspire and instruct manufacturers interested in building products around Intel's latest technology. "They can use as much or as little of the reference design as they like," says Smith, who hinted that the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in January could bring news of gadgets in which Intel's chips will appear.
Intel's Medfield is the latest in its "Atom" line of mobile chips. So far none of them have seriously threatened the dominance of ARM-based chips in mobile devices, in part because they are more power-hungry. However, the new chip represents a significant technological step toward lower power consumption.
Previous Atom designs spread the work of a processor across two or three chips, a relatively power-intensive scheme that originated many years ago in Intel's PC chips. But now Intel has finally combined the core functions of its processor designs into one chunk of silicon. "This is our first offering that's truly a single chip," says Smith. The all-in-one design, known as a system on-a-chip, is a standard feature of the ARM chips so dominant in smart phones today.
The phone prototype seen by Technology Review was similar in dimensions to the iPhone 4 but noticeably lighter, probably because the case was made with more plastic and less glass and metal. It was running the version of Google's operating system shipping with most Android phones today, known as Gingerbread; a newer version, Ice Cream Sandwich, was released by Google only about a month ago.
The phone was powerful and pleasing to use, on a par with the latest iPhone and Android handsets. It could play Blu-Ray-quality video and stream it to a TV if desired; Web browsing was smooth and fast. Smith says Intel has built circuits into the Medfield chip specifically to speed up Android apps and Web browsing.

2012 is shaping up to be another incredible year in gaming, maybe even better than 2011. It is coming with many exciting games. Some of the games are eagerly awaited by game lovers.

Every year new games are released and there is no end to the reign of gaming. With so many games to release in 2012 it is hard to make a list of most awaited games. Here are the top 10 most awaited games of 2012.

1. Final Fantasy XIII-2

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is being produced by Square Enix's 1st Production Department. It is a direct follow-up to the 2009 role playing game Final Fantasy XIII and set for release in January 2012.

As in the earlier version, the game will use a variation of the Active Time Battle system and the Paradigm Shift system. The game allows the player to control the difficulty of battles. During battles, players will be put through quick time events called Cinematic Action which will allow them to deal higher damage to foes and gain the upper hand in certain battles.

The player can tame monsters and use them as members in battles. This also leads to a new Feral Link feature being in the game, as the player attacks an enemy while a tamed monster is in their party, the Feral Link bar fills up and when it is full the player can make their current tamed monster do a special attack on the enemy via a quick time event.

2. Twisted Metal

Twisted Metal is a vehicle combat video game developed by Eat Sleep Play and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 3 video games console. It is the eighth installment in the series of the same name. The game was planned to be released in October 2011, but was delayed to February, 2012.

The game focuses heavily on multiplayer combat, including various online game modes with up to 4 player split-screen and 16-players online. The Nuke Mode is a new online game mode where you choose a faction to play against an opposing faction. In this mode, each faction has a giant metal statue that is being held in the air by a helicopter, which the opposing team must try to destroy. In order to destroy these statues, the player must abduct the enemy team's leader and then sacrifice the leader to a missile launcher that will, in turn, launch a nuclear missile.The person who sacrifices the leader and launches the missile has to control it to hit the opposing team's statue in the air.

There are other game modes include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Team Hunted, and Last Man Standing, in which each player has a specific number of lives and the last remaining player wins.

3. Syndicate

Syndicate by Starbreeze Studios set for release in February 2012 for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms. It is a reboot of the Syndicate series, changing completely the genre from a tactical shooter to a First Person Shooter game.

Players are not limited to the weapons in their hands. Through the DART 6 bio-chip technology implanted in their head, players can slow down time and breach the digital world around them to take down their foes using a variety of upgradable hacking mechanics. The game has been described as a kind of mix between Crysis-style first-person shooter action and the clean science-fiction world of Mass Effect. A four-player co-operation mode has been confirmed, with a separate campaign based on missions from the original game.

4. Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the title of an upcoming entry in the Uncharted series scheduled to be released on the PlayStation Vita. It is currently being developed by SCE Bend Studio, with development overseen by Naughty Dog. The game will be a launch title in Japan however the Europe and North American versions will be released on February 2012.

The game was officially unveiled with a brief gameplay demo. It has been shown to have a touch-screen control feature with motion sensitive controls. In addition, it is shown that aiming can be motion controlled.

Prior to the announcement though in May 2011, it was rumored that the game's title would be Uncharted: Golden Abyss, before any official announcement from Sony. The game will feature touch and motion based controls for navigation and aiming, though these are optional control schemes.

5. XCOM

XCOM is a first-person shooter video game in development by 2K Marin for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platform. The game is a reboot of the X-COM video game series originally created by Microprose.

It was officially revealed and is expected to be released on March 2012. Many fans of the original games were outraged when the game was revealed to be a first-person shooter. However, 2K Marin assured them that the developers would try to keep elements from the original game.

Very little detail about the gameplay has been revealed. However, the game follows Special Agent William Carter and his elite team of special agents as they battle an unknown outer space threat against humanity. Carter and his team must systematically battle the alien force while using the opportunity to capture and research alien technology, and equipping these technologies in the fight against the troublemaker.

6. Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platform. The game is scheduled to release on March 2012.

Mass Effect 3 will be influenced by decisions from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 and have settings throughout the galaxy, including Earth and Mars. Combat has been changed and refined, there will be more options for moving around the battlefield, instant fight kills and more conventional grenades will be introduced as well as improved artificial intelligence. There is also a multiplayer co-operation mode available in this version.

Players with saved files from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 will be given the option of importing them into Mass Effect 3. If a saved file is imported, over 1,000 variables will be pulled that will help shape how the final chapter is experienced. If there are no saved files available, there will be no origin-story comic for new players to help them make quick decisions like there was in Mass Effect 2.

7. Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is a continuation and expansion pack to the military science-fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II series. The expansion will include additional units and multiplayer changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Zerg species. It will span approximately 20 missions and it is likely to be released around April 2012.

Designed to be the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, StarCraft II features the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races, overhauled and re-imagined with Blizzard's signature approach to game balance. Each race will be further distinguished with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making reappearance in the game.

StarCraft II also features custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously.

8. Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Metal Gear Solid: Rising is an action video game under development by Kojima Productions as part of the Metal Gear series. It is in development for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and expected to be released in 2012.

The player will be in the role of Raiden, protagonist of Metal Gear series and will focus on two key elements sword fighting, and a style of stealth that is more fast-paced and action-oriented than in previous titles, which were Tactical Espionage Action games.

A key feature for the game is titled zan-datsu, which involves cutting through enemies and taking parts from the bodies of dismembered robots. The player can take include life, energy, parts, ammunition, and many more.

9. BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game, and the third game in the BioShock series. It is being developed by Irrational Games for a 2012 release on the Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. BioShock Infinite is not a direct sequel to previous BioShock games, taking place in an earlier period and different setting, though it features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

BioShock Infinite breaks away from the underwater setting of the first two games to take players into a floating city held aloft by airship. The player controls a former Pinkerton agent, Booker DeWitt, as he attempts to rescue a woman named Elizabeth trapped aboard the collapsing air-city Columbia in 1912.

10. Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 is a third person shooter video game and the third edition in the Max Payne series, published by Rockstar Games for Windows, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 platform. This is the first game in the series not to be developed by Finnish game developer Remedy Entertainment and not being written by series creator Sam Lake. The game is still in development and Rockstar announced a March 2012 release date for the game.

Rockstar is starting a new chapter of Max Payne's life with the game. This is Max as never before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. Since the last game, Max has left New York City behind and has drifted from bad to worse. Max has been double-crossed in this new city and he is searching for the truth and a way out.

A huge range of choices about mobile phones always confuses you and you are always end up in a dilemma. We have hereby listed out the best mobile phones in the world that is measured in both in its technicalities and user friendliness.

Choosing the right smartphone is quite difficult because smartphones are not only getting smarter every day, they are becoming super powerful. We can find smartphones of various designs, size and with rich features in different price categories.

Here are the 5 best smartphones to check out.

1. Samsung Galaxy S II

Samsung Galaxy S II is well known in the smartphone segment and one of the best additions to the android market. It is the next generation smartphone that you can grab on since it is earning great reviews all over.

This Samsung runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and makes navigation easily accessible. It has unleashed a 4.3 inch super AMOLED Plus display which gives a very slicker look to it with a high readability. It is powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and 1 GB of RAM. It comes with 16 GB and 32 GB internal storage and up to 32 GB of external memory capacity. It has 8 MP of rare facing camera with autofocus, LED flash, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, capable of HD 1080 video recording and 2 MP of front facing camera.

This Samsung model surely steals the lime light in the smartphone world due to unimaginable light weight (116 g). The price is 32,890.

2. HTC Sensation

HTC's approach with the Sensation is the antithesis of Samsung's strategy. Where the Galaxy S II aimed for the thinnest smartphone title, compromising hand-feel in its rush to shed ounces, HTC has come up with a thicker device that feels far more in keeping with the flagship positioning.

The HTC Sensation supports Bluetooth, WiFi, Micro USB, A-GPS, HDMI, DLNA and powered by a 1520 mAh standard battery for extra long battery life. The price of HTC Sensation is 32,700.

3. Apple iPhone 4S

With its slick iOS 5 platform and amazing display are the plus points of this mobile. The notable feature of this phone is the smart voice assistant Siri that helps in everything from sending messages, scheduling meetings, placing phone calls, to searching the web.

It has 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash and features touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection and it has a capacity of 1080 HD video recording and video stabilization. It also has WiFi, 3G, GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth, and USB.The price is 30000.

4. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S

It comes with 4.2 inch capacitive touch screen with LED backlight, along with scratch-resistant surface and utilizes Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine which is Sony's display technology. The phone comes with Timescape user interface which is Sony's proprietary user interface with deeper Social network integration. The phone is based on Android v2.3.4 (Gingerbread) OS and 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor.

It has 8 MP camera with LED Flash and auto focus. It uses Exmore imaging technology from Sony and comes with features like video calling, Touch focus, Geo-tagging, Face and Smile Detection, 3D Sweep Panorama and Image stabilization.

Other features include digital compass, HDMI port, Adobe Flash 10.3 support, Document viewer, Bluetooth, 3G and microUSB V2.0. Xperia Arc S has 1 GB Internal memory and microSD support for expandable memory up to 32 GB and the price is 26,900.

5. HTC Legend

The phone has been designed from a single block of aluminum to transform into a sleek handset. It comes with a 3.2-inch OLED HVGA touchscreen display. The trackball has now been fitted with an optical joystick next to a narrow button to improve functionality without compromising on the look and design of the phone.

It is powered by a 600 MHz ARM 11 processor, Qualcomm MSM 7227 chipset, 384 MB of RAM and runs on Android OS v2.1 Eclair. It has a 5 MP of camera with autofocus, LED flash and features geo-tagging.

Other feature includes WiFi, GPRS, 3G, Bluetooth, micro USB and expandable memory up to 32 GB. This phone has a widget named friend stream that helps to manage multiple social networking sites like Flickr, Twitter and Facebook. It is available at the price of 25,990.